Morocco: Four bombers, police officer killed

Published April 11th, 2007 - 04:48 GMT

Acting on a tip, Moroccan police surrounded a building where four suspected terrorists were holed up Tuesday, causing three to flee and blow themselve

Acting on a tip, Moroccan police surrounded a building where four suspected terrorists were holed up Tuesday, causing three to flee and blow themselves up with explosives. The fourth was shot dead by as he apparently tried to detonate his bomb.

According to the AP, a police officer was killed and 10 people, including a young child and a policeman, were wounded.

Officials said Tuesday's police raid targeted four suspects with alleged links to the bomber who killed himself in the March 11 cybercafe explosion. "These men had no ties with foreign groups," said Mokhtar Bakali, regional administrator for the Casablanca region. "All of the suspects were members of the March 11 group."

One of the bombers who killed himself, Ayyoub Raydi, was the brother of the cybercafe bomber, Abdelfettah Raydi, the Interior Ministry stated.

Tuesday's incidents started when police, acting on a tip, surrounded a four-story apartment building in the Farah neighborhood of Casablanca where the suspected terrorists were holed up, officials said. One of the suspects fled to the roof, where he blew himself up, said a police official. Morocco's official MAP news agency identified that bomber as Mohamed Rachidi.

A second man appeared to be on the verge of detonating explosives, fumbling with his clothes, when a police sniper shot him, officials said. The suspect, who later died of his wounds, was identified by police as Mohamed Mentala. He was carrying nearly nine pounds of explosives, an Interior Ministry official said, citing ministry policy.

Mentala and Rachidi had both been sought by police for alleged involvement in the 2003 suicide bombings, the Interior Ministry official said.

Ayyoub Raydi, the Internet cafe bomber's brother, fled, and blew himself up in the afternoon as police searched the neighborhood, officials said.

A police officer was reported dead and another seriously wounded when Ayyoub Raydi blew up. A 7-year-old boy was hospitalized with minor injuries.

In the evening, the fourth suspect set off his explosives in the middle of a boulevard, witnesses said. MAP said eight people were injured, two seriously.